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Despite my love for the movie Hackers I have never counted myself a part of the hacker counter-culture. I am a being of the digital world, I got my degree in Computer Science, I work as a web developer, I spend copious amounts of time on the internet, but I have never understood the allure of hackers and similar digital miscreants. This has become especially true lately as hacker groups like Lulzsec and Anonymous have taken the media by storm with their actions.
Both groups have recently gone on a hacking binge that has not been seen before. While seeming to have two very different goals in mind, both groups are nothing but ruthless and amoral in their actions. Lulzsec claimed to be doing it for the laughs, at other peoples’ expense. Anonymous claims to be acting on behalf of The People against corrupt governments and corporations.
To me, both groups are nothing more than petty criminals and cyber thugs. Some people try to defend them saying “it’s not their fault they hacked into those systems; it’s the fault of the owners for having poor security.” I am sorry, but either way it is a crime and these people should pay for what they are doing. One argument is that these bullies are providing an important service in bringing these security issues to light. You do not show someone that the lock on their front door is of low quality by breaking in and stealing everything that is not bolted down in their house.
Lulzsec all but admitted that there was no real purpose behind their attacks other than pure malice. Some of the things that they did with the information after stealing it were downright nasty and purely illegal. They admitted to stealing credit card information and using it to buy things with other peoples’ money, last I checked that is theft, pure and simple. Anyone who can laugh at what these punks have done is just plain sadistic. It is tantamount to laughing while seeing someone getting mugged in front of you.
Anonymous for a while seemed to have somewhat of a moral high horse to ride around on. As far as I am concerned that horse was shot dead when it hacked NASA. This group touts the fact that they are against corrupt governments (also implying that the United States government is patently corrupt) and are out to strike a blow for the people! NASA would be low on my list of corrupt agencies to attack. From what I have experienced of NASA through work and associates is that it is one of the least corrupt government entities and is already having enough problems without these childish attacks.
I could go on and on about how these people are deluded and misguided all day long. Nothing they are doing is beneficial in anyway shape or form and if they were serious about bringing security issues to light, they would find a non-destructive way of doing so. But it all boils down to a bunch of childish people taking out their frustrations in the digital world where they can be the bully. At least until they get caught, which I hope happens sooner than later so we can get our digital piece of mind back.
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